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Friday, July 05, 2013

Counting Blessings

Here we are, already at the 5th of July, and it's the first time this month I've had the simultaneous opportunity and inclination to write a blog post. I'm also behind in responding to emails, watching recorded TV shows, and vacuuming, all of which I hope to get to soon. The past couple of weeks have been stressful, stress makes me tired, and my response to that type of fatigue is to reserve my energy and brainpower for only those things that must be done, letting everything else slide for the sake of maintaining sanity. Fortunately, the immediate crisis has passed, and I'm now sticking my toe back into that slightly murky pond we call "normalcy."

Weather Report
It's raining today, preceded by a couple of days of warm sunshine tempered by the kind of cool breezes one doesn't expect in Louisiana in July. It looks like the rain is going to set in for a while, but I won't complain. Given the torrential downpours in the east and the extreme high temperatures in the west, I'm grateful for any weather that falls in the moderate range.

Over Our Heads
The bids are in for the new roof, the contract has been awarded, the color samples have been reviewed and one selected (gray, like it is now), and work is scheduled to begin Monday if the rain lets up by then.

It's going to be interesting to see how well Levi and Gimpy cope with the sound of constant hammering for a day or two. I'm hoping that if I take them outside so they can see what's causing the noise, they'll deal with it better. The basis for that bit of optimism is their response to a roofing-project estimator who knocked at our door on Monday. My "boys" went ballistic at the sound of the knock, barking and growling like junkyard dogs. But, as soon as I opened the door and stepped outside to greet the man, they watched us through the glass storm door and dropped all the attitude. In fact, Levi abruptly left his station by the door and returned seconds later with a tennis ball. He apparently thinks optimistically, too, once the danger has passed.

Speaking of Loud Noises
Unlike Kadi and Butch, whose fear of fireworks made every 4th of July of their lifetimes a miserable event, Levi seems completely undisturbed by them. Gimpy gets startled by the noise and looks to me for reassurance each time a new bout of pops and booms begins, but he carries on. Yesterday my strategy was to distract him to keep his fears from growing. Throughout the day, when firecrackers popped, we went outside and played ball. Ball held his interest over firecrackers every single time. So there we were at nine o'clock last night, out in the backyard, standing in the wide "V" of light cast by the patio light, tossing and retrieving the ball, ignoring the booms, whistles, and fiery explosions going on around and above us. It was nice, and I felt lucky.

The 4th was not so nice or lucky for my granddaughter, however. She posted this photo and caption on her Facebook page last night:

It's not that things are getting back to normal--that'll take a while, I think--but I know my coping skills are better when I can stick to a comfortable routine. I need to get back into a headspace where I can be helpful, not just worry from the sidelines.

About Me

My Other Blogs

On the Internet to Find the Others

"Admit it. You aren't like them. You're not even close. You may occasionally dress yourself up as one of them, watch the same mindless television shows as they do, maybe even eat the same fast food sometimes. But it seems that the more you try to fit in, the more you feel like an outsider, watching the 'normal people' as they go about their automatic existences. For every time you say club passwords like 'Have a nice day' and 'Weather's awful today, eh?', you yearn inside to say forbidden things like 'Tell me something that makes you cry' or 'What do you think deja vu is for?' Face it, you even want to talk to that girl in the elevator. But what if that girl in the elevator (and the balding man who walks past your cubicle at work) are thinking the same thing? Who knows what you might learn from taking a chance on conversation with a stranger? Everyone carries a piece of the puzzle. Nobody comes into your life by mere coincidence. Trust your instincts. Do the unexpected. Find the others..."

--Timothy Leary

My Babies

Levi

Gimpy

Kadi: Jun 1997-Mar 2011

Butch: Mar 1998-Feb 2012

The Introvert

She cared for those trinkets as if they were cherished heirlooms, rarely displaying them in public. She stored them in protective velvet sacks, drawing them out only when she was alone or in the company of those she trusted to understand why the simple objects mattered. And as careful as she was to protect the trinkets, so she was cautious about sharing her words, and for the same reasons.